Envelop-opener.



UNITED STATESV PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL G. MUENCHINGER, OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

ENVELOP-OPENER.

SEECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.1'720,049, dated February 10, 1903.

Application filed November 13, 1901. Serial No. 82,153. (No model.)

of Rhode Island, have invented a new andl useful Envelop-Opener, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to envelops, particularly of that class known as self-opening envelops; and the object in View is to provide a simple and inexpensive device of this class having permanently associated therewith and adapted for sale as a part thereof an opening device adapted to perform` first, the function of opening the envelop by a shearing cut when an exposed or projecting feature of the opener is grasped and drawn by the operator; second, the function of an opaque shield to prevent the contents of the envelop from being seen by interposing the lsaine between the eye of the observer and a strong light, and, third, the function of an advertising card or circular whereby a merchant may distribute vadvertising matter in the course of correspondence.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a rear view of an envelop constructed in accordance with the invention with the parts arranged for mailing, the covering-fiap of the envelop being closed and indicating in dotted lines the position of the blade or body portion of the opener. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the tongue or grip of the opener detached from the strap or keeper and extended. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the opener partly withdrawn. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the envelop with the parts in their normal positions.

to an envelop l of the usual form and coustruction having a closing-flap 2 through the fold or crease between which and the front of the body portion of the envelop is extended a tongue or grip 7, preferably formed integral with a blade 5, forming the body portion of the opener. This blade, with its connected tongue or handle, may be of any suitable material, preferably flexible, and in practice I use a card having suicient stiffness to adapt the upper diagonally-disposed edges 8, which incline downward from the base of the tongue toward the side edges 6, to sever the envelop between its front fold and the closing-flap, or, in other words, on the creaseline, when the tongue is drawn upward in a direction parallel with the plane of the envelop. To facilitate grasping the envelop during the operation of opening, a thumb opening or notch 9 is formed in the lower edge of the blade. The blade preferably corresponds approximately in area with the envelop, so thatV the contents of the latter are concealed, the penetration of the light being prevented.

In practice the opener is applied to the envelop during the construction of the latter, the body portion of the blade 5 thereof being folded into the envelop, with the tongue 7 projecting through the opening 3 in the crease-line between the closing-flap and the main or front fold; but it will be understood that the opener may be constructed as a separate article of manufacture and inserted in the envelop bya merchant desiring to use the body portion of the card as an advertising medium. To hold the tongue or grip in a folded and inconspicuous position, it is preferably folded parallel with the envelop and secured by means of a keeper or strap 4, which in the construction illustrated is upstruck from the closing-flap. In opening the envelop the operator may rst detach the tongue from this keeper, at the same time grasping the lower edge of the envelopopposite the notch 9 of the opener-blade between the thumb and forefinger of the other hand; but it is not necessary that this tongue should be detached from the keeper as a preliminary step in the opening of the envelop, as the' IOG of the tongue in an upward direction approximately parallel with the plane of the envelop the keeper will be torn loose or entirely removed, and as soon as the stress of the pull is applied directly to the tongue in the plane of the blade 5 the latter will be drawn outward and its diagonally disposed cutting edges will sever the envelop on the creaseline. Moreover, it will be understood that while the illustrated embodiment of my invention, with the tongue of the opener extending through the crease-line between the closing-Hap and the main fold and the tongue engaged at its free end with the keeper in the closing-clap, is a convenient construction the essential advantages of the invention may be attained by arranging the opener to be drawn downward through the lower edge or through one of the end edges of the envelop, and I desire to have it understood that I reserve the right to modify the construction on these lines without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed isl. The combination with an envelop, of an opener having a flat body portion or blade approximately equal in area with the envelop and provided at one side with diagonally-disposed cutting edges, and a flexible tongue projecting from the center of said side and extending through an opening in the envelop, the envelop being provided with an exterior fastening device for securing the tongue in a folded position.

2. The combination with an envelop, of an opener having a iat body portion or blade approximately equal in area with the envelop and provided at one side with diagonally-disposed cutting edges, and a flexible tongue projecting from the center of said side and extending through an opening in the envelop, the envelop having an upstruck keeper or strap for receiving and holding the tongue in its folded position.

3. The combination with an envelop having a slit in the fold of its closing-flap and a keeper on the flap disposed parallel with the slit, of an'envelop-opener having a body portion or blade approximately equal in area with the envelop, and a tongue passed through the slit and beneath the keeper.

4. The combination With an envelop hav-- inga slit in the fold of its closing-flap, of an opener having a body portion or blade approximately equal in area with the envelop, said opener being provided with diagonallydisposed cutting edges and a tongue projecting from the apex ot' the cutting edges and extending through the said slit, the body portion being provided opposite the tongue with a thumb-notch, and the closingflap being provided with a keeper to receive the tongue.

In testimony that I claim the foregoingas my own I have hereto aixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PAUL G. MUENOHINGER.

Witnesses:

MICHAEL DoYLE, MAX MUENGHINGER. 

